


Narrative Foils: Ventress’ Story Arc in Star Wars: The Clone Wars

by The_Violet_Howler



Category: Star Wars: Dark Disciple - Christie Golden, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Character Analysis, Cross-Posted on Tumblr, Essays, Gen, Nonfiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-22
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-19 06:08:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29621793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Violet_Howler/pseuds/The_Violet_Howler
Summary: A look at Ventress' character arc and her place in the overall narrative of the prequels with regard to the events ofDark Disciple.
Kudos: 2





	Narrative Foils: Ventress’ Story Arc in Star Wars: The Clone Wars

When  _ Dark Disciple  _ first published in July of 2015, I saw quite a lot of outrage from multiple corners of the fanbase in reaction to both the love story between Ventress and Vos as well as the decision to end Ventress’ story in The Clone Wars with her death. 

While there was a notable segment of fans who shipped her with Obi-Wan, most of the fans I knew at the time were opposed to the idea of her being in any kind of romance whatsoever. And although Ventress not surviving into the Dark Times had been acknowledged as a possibility, few people I saw were happy with her actually dying in canon. 

Part of this might have been due to the demographics of the Star Wars forum I was active in at the time. But I’ll see similar negative sentiments on Tumblr every once in a while, and after my latest rewatch of Clone Wars Season 7, I was reflecting back on the series as a whole and thinking about the novel’s place in the narrative of the series. As I looked back and thought about the novel in regards to Ventress’ story, I realized something about the trajectory of her overall character arc that put the decisions behind the novel’s story into perspective: 

Ventress' backstory and the journey she goes through over the course of The Clone Wars serves as a mirror to the one that Anakin goes through over the course of both the prequel and original trilogy. This serves to make her a literary foil to Anakin. 

If you’re behind on your literary terminology (or none of the English classes you’ve taken ever covered it), a Foil is a character who serves as a contrast to another character (usually the protagonist) by highlighting the traits of the other character through their similarities in order to serve as a point of contrast, depicting how differently the other character’s life could have turned out under better or worse circumstances, and sometimes serving to foreshadow major points in a character’s story arc. 

So let’s take a look at how we see this play out across The Clone Wars and the Prequel era as a whole: 

Anakin Skywalker grew up in slavery on Tatooine before being found by Qui Gon Jin, who decided to train him as a Jedi even when the Jedi Council disapproved but died before Anakin could finish his training[01]. Anakin’s fear of losing Padme drove him to turn to the Dark Side in order to save her, resulting in her death[02]. He became the apprentice of a Sith Lord, but began plotting against him when he discovered that Darth Sidious had lied to him about the death of his child. He later sacrificed his life to protect his son Luke from Palpatine’s force lightning, returning to the light as he died[03].

Asajj Ventress grew up in slavery on Ratatak before being found by Ky Narec after the death of her master[04,05]. Narec chose to train her as a Jedi despite being unable to get the Council’s approval on account of being stranded on Ratatak[06]. Narec died before Ventress’ training could be completed, and her grief over his death drove her down the path to the Dark Side. She became the unofficial apprentice of a Sith Lord, but turned against him when he attempted to kill her on Sidious’ orders. She later sacrificed her life to protect her lover from Dooku’s force lightning, returning to the light as she died. 

When you lay both characters’ stories out like this, it becomes clear that Ventress is Anakin’s narrative foil. Her presence in the narrative provides a contrast that highlights Anakin’s character traits that lead him toward the dark side over the course of the prequel trilogy, and ultimately back to the light at the end of the original.

While they did not interact as much in canon, their connection stands out even more when Legends material is taken into account. Especially when you consider that the scripts Dark Disciple was adapted from were written _before_ Disney bought out the franchise and declared the old Expanded Universe non-canon. 

Their duel on Yavin IV in the 2003 Clone Wars microseries serves as the narrative climax for the show’s second season, and is specifically used by Obi-Wan to argue for Anakin’s promotion to Knighthood[07]. The encounter is referred to as the meeting of the “Heirs of the Sith” by the official Star Wars magazine  _ Star Wars Insider _ , whose July 2005 issue listed it as one of the 20 Most Memorable Moments of the Expanded Universe[07]. 

One of many things I have learned through analyzing stories in fandom is that when a specific character or relationship is the thematic core of the narrative, all other characters function as plot devices to mirror how differently things could have gone for that character or relationship if circumstances had been different.

The main Star Wars films are known as the Skywalker Saga for a reason. We may get media focused on other characters like Rebels or Resistance or The High Republic, but the Original, Prequel, and Sequel trilogy eras are centered around the story of the Skywalker family. The major events of all the film eras have at least one Skywalker at the heart of them. And for the prequel trilogy era in which The Clone Wars takes place, the central focus of the story is Anakin’s fall. The empire rises as Anakin turns to the dark side, just as his return to the light in the original trilogy heralds the death of the emperor and the subsequent fall of the empire[08]. 

The major antagonists of each film in the prequel trilogy represented different aspects of what Anakin would become. The cyborg with breathing problems. The fallen Jedi. Palpatine’s attack dog. With the focus their duel received in the old expanded universe, it makes perfect sense that Ventress’s role in the saga would be treated similarly. Especially taking into account how Ahsoka also serves as a foil to Anakin and embodies the positive qualities that lie buried deep down for Luke to bring to the surface in Return of the Jedi[09]. 

So while your mileage may vary on the execution of it, the direction of Ventress’s character and story in  _ Dark Disciple  _ fits perfectly within the overall context of Anakin’s fall to the darkside being the driving narrative force of the entire Prequel Era. 

**Author's Note:**

>  **Sources:**  
>  [01] Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace; 1999  
> [02] Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith; 2005  
> [03] Star Wars: Episode VI: Return of the Jedi; 1983   
> [04] Star Wars: The Clone Wars Season 3 Episode 12 Nightsisters; 2011  
> [05] Star Wars: Dark Disciple by Christie Golden; 2015.   
> [06] Star Wars: Clone Wars; Chapter 21; 2005.  
> [07] Star Wars Insider #83; July 2005.  
> [08] STAR WARS: The Creation of a Modern Myth: Cultural Influence, Fan Response and the Impact of Literary Archetypes on Saga Perception; January 25, 2017 https://archiveofourown.org/works/9457613  
> [09] Anakin, Ahsoka, and Hope; April 01, 2020. https://archiveofourown.org/works/23422474


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